The action is fun. The characters are bland.

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2013)

Guillermo del Toro aims straight for the big summer blockbuster with this giant robots vs. giant monsters (actually referred to as kaiju in the movie) flick. I have to admit, I find del Toro's films a little undercooked most of the time - I kind of wish he'd return to his earlier, simpler stuff like Cronos and The Devil's Backbone. Even Pan's Labyrinth, in my opinion, lacks personality. The big problem here is with the characters. The lead, Charlie Hunnam (the star of Sons of Anarchy), is about the dullest protagonist in recent memory. Idris Elba, who gave an all-time great television performance in The Wire, is quite boring. About the only two actors who register are Rinko Kikuchi - mostly because she's an adorable Japanese girl - and Charlie Day (of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a show on which Guillermo del Toro once appeared as an actor), who brings the same manic energy he usually has, and perhaps comes off as a bit too much. Ron Perlman also has a nice little role, little more than a cameo. When there aren't giant monsters on screen, the film can drag. It mostly makes up for that, though, when the action starts. The good, old fashioned monster smashdown does not disappoint. I'd give it a slight recommendation.